Improvement in car-brakes



A. I. AMBLER.

Cat" Brake. y

No. 40,005. Patented Sept. 22, 1863.

`Inventor:

AM. PHUTG-LITHD. C0. NVY. (USEURNS FHOCESS.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

A. I. AMBLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IM PROVEM ENT IN CAR-BRAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 410.005, dated September 22, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, A. I. AMBLER, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Applying Power to Car-Brakes; and I do hereby declare that the following is f a full, clear, and exact description of vthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specitica' tion, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section of my invention, taken in the line m x, Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a plan or top view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

This invention relates to an improved mode of applying the power to that class of carbrakes which are actuated from the locomotive; and it consists in the employment or use of a friction-wheel applied to an adjustable shaft, having a screw upon it, which, by actuating said shaft, may be thrown in gear with a worm-wheel on a shaft having a loose drum upon it, connected with the shaft by means of a spring pressing one end of the drum in contact with a conical hub attached to the wormwheel, all being arranged in such a manner that the brakes of a train of cars will be under the complete control of the operatoror engineer.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents the lower part of a locomotive; B, the axles, and U the wheels thereof.

These parts may be constructed and arranged in the usual or any proper way.

D is a shaft, one end of which is fitted in a xed pendent bearing, a, attached to the framing of the locomotive, and the opposite end is fitted in an adjustable or swinging bearing, b, the upper end of which is attached to the framing of the locomotive, and the lower end connected to a rod, E, which extends along underneath the framing and is attached to the lower end of a lever, F, which has its fulcrum at c, said lever F extending up by the side of a bar, G, having a notch, d, made in it to receive the lever F and hold it in a certain position.

On the free or disengaged end of the shaft D-that is to say, the end which is movable or adjustable on account of the swinging bearing b--there is placed a wheel, H, which has a grooved periphery. This wheel H is in line with the ange d of one of the wheels C of the locomotive. y

' On the shaft D there is placed a screw, I, and this screw gears into a worin-wheel, J which is keyed firmly on a shaft. 7c, placed longitudinally in the framing of the locomotive. This worm-wheel J has a conical hub, e, permanently connected with it, and on the shaft D there is placed loosely a drum, L, one end of which is made concave, as shown at f, Fig. l, to correspondwith the conical hub e, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. The conical hub e of the worm-wheel J and the concave end fof the drum L form a clutch, which connects the drum L with the shaft K, and on said shaft K there is placed an india-rubber spring, M, one end of which bears against a washer, N, interposed between the drum L and the spring, and the opposite end of the spring bears against a nut, O, which works on a screw, g, on shaft K, the nutO having a jam-nut, I), behind it.

The drum L has a chain, Q, attached to it, and this chain is connected to the brake mechanism. y The operation, which will be readily under'- stood,is as follows: Suppose that it is desired to apply the brakes, and the train moving at the usual speed, the engineer or operator moves the lever Fin the direction indicated by the arrow 1, and thereby throws the wheel H in contact with the iange d of the wheel O, which is in line with it, and the wheel H and shaft D will be rotated, and motion will be communicated to the shaft K from the shaft D through the medium of thc screw I and worm-wheel J. The drum L will also be rotated with the shaft K, in consequence ot' being connected to it through the medium of the spring M and clutch previously described, and the chain Q, will be wound upon said drum and the brakes applied. Neither the chain Q nor any parts pertaining to the brakes can be subjected to any under tension, as the drum L will slip on shaft K when the resistance ofthe chain Q reaches a certain point, and this slipping of the drum L, and, consequently, the maximum pressure of the brakes, may bc regulated as desired by compressing the spring M (more or less) by means of the nuts O P. When the brakes are applied to `gear with the worm-wheel J. The sllaft'K,

vI again thrown in gear with the worin-wheel the wheels of the cars, the 4operator moves back the lever F to -its original position, Aso that it will fit in the notch l of the barG and the wheel H will be free from the wheel G, but the drum L will be prevented from turning under the strain or tension of the-chain Q, in consequence of the worm-wheel ,T and screw I. Thus the brakes will continue to be applied and held at their maximum pressure, even when the lever F is released.

The engineer or operator may throw off the brakes at any time when desired by moving the lever Fin the direction indicated by arrow 2, thereby throwing the screw I out of being thus relieved from the shaft D, is left free to turn and admit of the brakes being freed under the back action and the springs connected with them. When the brakes are thus let off, the lever F is moved back to its original position in the notch d, and the screw J, so that the device will be ready for a succeeding operation.

`I vwould remark that at one end of the drum L there is a toothed wheel, e', which may gear into a wheel on a shaft provided with a chain connected with the lever F, so that the latter may be operated automatically to release the shaft K at any given maximum `pressure of,

the brakes. Various plans, however, may be devised for this purpose.

In Fig. l the position of the friction-wheel H, when the lever F is in the notch d, is shown in black, said wheel being shown in contact with the flange d of the wheel C in red, and the screw I shown out of gear with the wormwheel Jin blue. l

Havin g thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. rlhe screw I and worm-wheel J, the latter being placed on a shaft, K, working or rotating in fixed bearings, and the screw plaeedon a shaft, I), having a swinging or adjustable bearing, the aboveparts being arranged substantially as shown and used in combination with a friction-wheel, H, placed -on the shaft D, and arranged Arelatively with a flange, d', of a wheel, C, of a locomotive, to operate 'as and for thepurpose herein -set forth.

2. ln combination with 'theserew I, wormwheel J, and friction-wheel H, arranged 4as shown, the spring M and drum L, applied to the shaft K, as and for the purpose specified.

A. I. Ay-MBLER. "Witnesses B. HENDnIoKs, J. A. HoIsiNG'roN. 

